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Suicide Bombers Attack Worship Service in Jos, Nigeria

At least one Christian is dead, and 38 were injured after a bomb blast at the headquarters of the Church of Christ in Nigeria.

By Dan Wooding, ASSIST News Services.

Compass Direct News (CDN) is reporting that two suicide bombers from the Boko Haram Islamist sect drove a car laden with bombs into the worship service of a Church of Christ in Nigeria (COCIN) congregation here this morning (Sunday, February 26, 2010), killing at least one Christian girl and injuring dozens of other church members, sources said.

CDN said that a man claiming to be a spokesman for Boko Haram reportedly claimed responsibility for the blast. The two suicide bombers broke through a security barrier at the gate of the church building at 7:20 a.m., a church leader said.

“When the bombs went off, I saw the dead body of one girl and four other members of our church who were injured,” said Yakubu Dutse, director of finance at COCIN headquarters, which is located in the same building. Dutse said one of the bombers was shot dead and one was injured by soldiers posted as security guards before the bombs went off, killing the second assailant as well.

“When they were stopped at the gate of the church, they refused to stop, hence the soldiers posted to the church shot at the car,” he said. Church member Felix Apollos rushed to the scene of the attack minutes after the bombs went off; he told Compass that he saw the bodies of five people killed in the attack, but the identities of the dead were yet to be confirmed at press time.

“At least 38 people were reportedly injured in the blast,” said the CDN story. “Apollos said some members of a security force manning the church gate tried to stop the assailants, but soldiers also guarding the church ordered them to allow the bombers onto the premises.

Boko Haram, whose name translates loosely as “Western education is forbidden,” seeks to impose a strict version of Sharia law on Nigeria.